Anthropic signs $9.1 billion data center deal with Riot Platforms

Anthropic has signed a $9.1 billion, 20-year agreement with Riot Platforms for 191 megawatts of AI computing capacity at the Bitcoin miner's Rockdale, Texas campus, extending the Claude developer's compute procurement spree past $60 billion in recent months.

"Implies $2.4 million per megawatt annual rent with 80-90 percent net operating income margins," Matthew Sigel, a digital assets analyst, wrote on X. "Assuming $11 million per megawatt capex, the deal is worth $15 per share at 15 times NOI."

The contract runs through June 2048 and includes two optional five-year extensions that could raise total value to $16.1 billion. Riot shares surged about 25 percent to $24.40 in after-hours trading Monday after closing the regular session at $19.40. The deal follows Riot's Q2 2026 results, which showed total revenue of $174.2 million, up 14 percent year-over-year, with $23.2 million from its data center segment and $37.3 million in engineering revenue.

For Riot, the agreement marks a decisive shift from Bitcoin mining toward contracted AI infrastructure. The company now has 241 megawatts of contracted capacity at Rockdale, including an existing agreement with AMD and a 50-megawatt build-out for that tenant. Morgan Stanley is providing interim financing to fund the expansion. The revenue model transition from volatile cryptocurrency mining to stable, long-term service contracts could reshape how investors value the stock, which carries a market capitalization of $7.76 billion.

Anthropic's compute procurement accelerates

Anthropic has been on a buying spree to secure AI infrastructure. Before the Riot deal, the company signed a $10 billion agreement with Volta Infra Holdings, an infrastructure startup founded just months ago, and in May agreed to purchase nearly $45 billion in computing capacity from Elon Musk's xAI. The three agreements total more than $60 billion, reflecting the enormous compute demands of training and operating frontier AI models.

The Riot deal provides 191 megawatts of critical IT capacity — enough to power roughly 143,000 homes simultaneously. Initial deployment is scheduled for December 2027, with full deployment by June 2028.

Bitcoin miners pivot to AI infrastructure

Riot is not alone in this transition. Multiple cryptocurrency mining companies are using their existing power infrastructure and data center expertise to enter the AI compute market. The economics are compelling: colocation deals with AI companies offer stable, contracted revenue streams compared to the volatility of Bitcoin mining.

The contract implies approximately $2.4 million per megawatt in annual rent, with estimated net operating income margins of 80-90 percent, according to Sigel's analysis. Riot's data center capital expenditure is estimated at $11-12 million per megawatt of IT capacity. Peer miner IREN has said demand for air-cooled data centers is high due to capex efficiency, and its Bundley site is scheduled for 2028 deployment — within the same timeline as Riot's Anthropic contract.

Riot shares, which closed at $19.40 before the announcement, carry a market capitalization of $7.76 billion. The most recent analyst rating on the stock is a Buy with a $30 price target. The deal's contracted revenue visibility — $9.1 billion over the initial term — provides a valuation anchor that Bitcoin mining alone could not offer. For investors, the question is whether Riot can execute on its build-out timeline and whether additional capacity at its Corsicana site, where it has disclosed an exclusive letter of intent, could unlock further value.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.